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It was a cycle with his brother. He got some money and times were good for a while, then the money ran out and he came home.
Quaid’s gut tightened. The last time his brother had come into some money was when he’d gotten access to his trust fund at the age of twenty-five. That had been five years before.
Had his brother run through ten million dollars in five years?
He might have bigger problems than seducing JaynaCardet.
chapter three
Four days later, Quaid sat at the breakfast table, and still had zero idea why his brother was truly there.
After that first night Paul had been home, Quaid had been called away to New Orleans to deal with a problem at Beaumont Oil’s headquarters. The company was his second-biggest client, and the issue had been over drilling rights. He’d spent several nights at Rene’s house in the Quarter poring over international law and making calls to experts.
He’d solved the problem, but he was irritable since he was running on very little sleep and hadn’t had a second to write or read or even watch an episode of television. The last thing he needed was his brother’s bullshit, and he was getting a big dose of that this morning.
“I was at this party with one of the biggest producers in Hollywood and he tells me the problem is I’m too handsome. Every director is trying to go a more natural route,” Paul was saying.
Their mother shook her head. “That’s not right. Movie stars have always been attractive. It’s one of the reasons the movies are so enjoyable.”
“Who wants to watch normal-looking people?” Paulreplied. “It’s hard to find work when all the directors are looking for average-looking people. It’s a real problem for me.”
“Sure. All the movies I’ve seen lately are filled with average-looking people.” Quaid took a long drink of the coffee Caroline had set in front of him. “We recently had a movie filmed here. Lots of ordinary-looking people.”
They hadn’t been. The two leads had been far too beautiful to play an aging small-town sheriff and his angry deputy daughter, but that was Hollywood. Of course, the actress who’d originally been set to play the daughter had dropped out to run off with one of Papillon’s deputies.
Paul sat up straighter in his chair. “I’m good friends with the actress who played the daughter. Ally Pearson. Such a fun girl. We’ve gone out a couple of times.”
His mother put a hand to her heart. “Really? She was such a sweet thing when she was here. Oh, I never imagined she was your girlfriend.”
“Because she’s not.” His brother was full of crap, and he’d likely been filling their mother’s head with it for days. He would butter her up with all kinds of stories of how close he was to breaking through, and then he would go in for the kill. He only needed some money—not much—and then when she gave it to him, he would disappear from their lives again, breaking his mother’s heart. “You know her sister lives here. Ally is often in town. She’s very friendly and I suspect she would bring her boyfriend with her. If she had one.”
Paul sat back, the omelet on his plate untouched. “We’re casual, not serious. We see each other at clubs and when we’re out for dinner. You know I have to focus on my career.”
“I’m sure you would. Again, if you had one.” Quaid was well aware he sounded like his father.
“Quaid, don’t be so rude to your brother. You know he’sin a tough business. It’s not like being a lawyer,” his mother admonished.
This was the other thing that happened when his brother came home. Suddenly Quaid had everything easy while Paul couldn’t catch a break. “Yes, it’s so easy to be a lawyer. It’s easy to work sixty hours a week and be expected to handle every legal trouble this town has. I’m sure going on auditions is much more difficult.”
“You have no idea, brother. You aren’t the creative type so you don’t understand rejection,” his brother replied.
He wanted to reject his brother’s face. “How much do you need, Paul?”
His mom gasped.
“I need a lot of things, brother.” Paul took a sip of his coffee. “If you’re talking about money, I don’t need any. I’ve been careful with my trust fund, and I’m growing my investment portfolio.”
“You never come home unless you need money or you’re in legal trouble, so which is it?” Quaid didn’t want to wait for the other shoe to drop. How many damn times had he been through this?
“Quaid, you stop this right now.” His mother still had the same stare she’d used on them as children. “We are having a nice visit with your brother, and if you can’t be civil then perhaps you shouldn’t join us.”
“Now, Mom, I don’t want to cause trouble,” Paul said, proving he was capable of acting when he wanted to. “Maybe I should cut this trip short.”
And just like that, Quaid was in a corner again. This was what always happened. He needed to remove himself from the situation or he would end up being the bad guy. Again.
He pushed back from the table. “I think I’ll head into the office.”
“Quaid, maybe you should stay there until you can be nice to your brother,” his mother said, her lips pursed.
